Federal judge makes foie gras sales legal in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday struck down a California law that banned restaurants from selling foie gras, a culinary delicacy that comes from fatty duck livers.

Foie gras producers and restaurant owners lobbied hard to remove the ban, which went into effect in 2012, arguing that California's sales restriction ran afoul of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

"California cannot regulate foie gras products' ingredients by creatively phrasing its law in terms of the manner in which those ingredients were produced," U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson wrote.